Sk:
Cundi. Also Juntei Butsumo yãñ§ê, Shichigutei Butsumo µäãñ§ê, or Butsumo Juntei §êyãñ. Juntei means pure, and Butsumo means the mother of the myriad
buddhas and bodhisattvas. Juntei is a deity propitiated for wisdom, conjugal
harmony, obtaining a child, long life, and rain. The single most famous
story is that of Shoubou's ¹ó (the founder of the Daigoji çí in Kyoto; 832-909) successful
propitiation of Juntei for the birth of two emperors. The frequent association
of the deity with prayers for conjugal harmony and children suggests a feminine
nature, as does the name butsumo. Juntei is often said to be female,
but Japanese sculptures and paintings do not show a woman. In the Ono ¬ì
tradition of Shingon ^¾ Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou §³ associated with Daigoji, Juntei is considered a bodhisattva *bosatsu ìF, a form of *Kannon Ï¹,
and one of the Six Kannon *Roku Kannon ZÏ¹. In the Hirosawa Lò tradition
of the Shingon sect and in Tendai Vä Buddhism, however, Juntei is considered
a Buddha. The latter view can be supported by the following facts: Juntei's
headdress does not necessarily hold a small figure of *Amida ¢íÉ; Juntei does not appear in the Kannon section of the Matrix mandala *Taizoukai
mandara Ù EÖä¶ , but in the Henchi-in Òm@ section connected with wisdom;
and Juntei is not listed as a name of Kannon in texts. Four-and six-armed
images of Juntei dating from the 7-8c are extant in Ellora caves in India
and in Borobudor in central Java, Indonesia (8-9c). No Chinese examples
are known, but the iconography is mentioned in the texts, such as SHICHIGUTEI
BUTSUMO JUNTEI DAIMYOU DARANIKYOU µäãñ§êñå¾É òo translated by Vajrabodhi
(Ch: Jingangzhi, Jp: Kongouchi àq, 671-741) and SHICHIGUTEI BUTSUMO
SHOSETSU JUNTEI DARANIKYOU µäãñ§êàyãñÉ òo translated by Amoghavajra (Ch:
Bukong, Jp: Fukuu só, 705-74). These texts describe Juntei as yellow in
color and with three eyes and eighteen arms, and this is how Juntei appears
in the Taizoukai mandara. However, eight-armed forms appear in some of the
most important compilations of Buddhist iconography in Japan including *KAKUZENSHOUoTçâ (13c) and extant examples of Juntei may have between two and 84
arms. Thus Juntei can be difficult to distinguish from *Senju
Kannon çèÏ¹ or *Fukuukenjaku
Kannon sóã®õÏ¹. Attributes of extant examples also vary in spite of the
fact that in the original Chinese texts they are almost the same. Juntei may be shown with two dragon kings rising from the sea below the lotus throne.
Since Juntei appears in the Henchi-in Section of the Taizoukai mandar along
with Butsugen Butsumo §á§ê, and since "butsumo" is an epithet of
Prajnaparamita *Hannya
bosatsu ÊáìF, some connection with this deity and with the Prajnaparamita
texts seems likely. It is often said that Juntei had a non-Buddhist origin
and is related to Hindu deities.

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